Foundation Co-President Anne Laurie Gaylor referenced the establishment clause of the First Amendment in a letter sent to the city last week. She wrote that the city-owned signs on public property “convey government preference for religion over nonreligion” and send “the message that nonbelievers are not welcome in the city.”

“The message assumes a common god, yet imagine the public outrage had the city posted a sign that said, “This is Vishnu’s Country,” Gaylor told Danner in the letter. “It is equally inflammatory and inappropriate to post a sign dedicating a city to the god of the bible.”

A formal response from the city is being drafted by its legal counsel, but Danner left no doubt that he’ll oppose removing the recently restored placards beside U.S. 90 that say, in full, “This Is God’s Country — Please Don’t Drive Through It Like Hell.”

He predicted that the people of Hondo would back that stance.

“I think when they find out we received that letter, we’ll have total support from the community to keep them,” Danner said.

The local Lions Club is credited with erecting the iconic sign around 1932 — initially without the “Please” — and Danner said the only other complaints regarding them concerned their absence when the highway was widened between 2009 and 2012.

“We got tons of letters saying, ‘Where’s the signs?’” recalled Danner, noting, “The community is very proud of the slogan, ‘God’s Country.’”

A favorite photo prop for passing motorists, the restored signs were unveiled with new landscaping in 2012, improvements funded jointly by the city, the local garden club and the economic development corporation.

Frank Garza, the city’s attorney, said his preliminary view is that the signs encourage driver safety, as opposed to endorsing a religion.

City Manager Kim Davis said, “They’re alleging that the signs make anyone who is not a Christian feel unwelcome. The mere fact that we often have people come to town to take a picture with the signs would say otherwise.”

The foundation, based in Wisconsin, is a national organization dedicated to the separation of state and church, with 24,000 nonreligious members nationwide, including almost 1,000 in Texas.

It is engaged in a similar challenge in the East Texas town of Hawkins over a sign that says, “Jesus Welcomes You to Hawkins.”

“It’s mostly out-of-towners and out-of-staters who have made the biggest protest,” Hawkins Mayor Howard Coquat said Monday.

Before any decision is made on whether the Hawkins sign should stay, Coquat said, the courts must determine whether the city has any jurisdiction over the land beside U.S. 80 on which it sits.

Hawkins’ lawyer, Alvin Flynn, said that issue is being addressed in state district court in Wood County in a lawsuit involving the city, the Jesus Christ Open Altar Church, which has claimed a stake in the parcel, and two prior owners of the site.

“If they own it and the court finds that they own it, then the First Amendment doesn’t apply,” Flynn said Monday. “If the court finds the city has a valid interest in it, then we’ve got to decide what to do with the sign.”

Foundation attorney Sam Grover said there are plenty of examples of community welcome signs elsewhere that don’t implicate the establishment clause.

“We respect the right of every person in Hondo to practice whatever religion or nonreligion they choose,” he said. “The only problem here is that it’s the government endorsing religion, rather than private entities.”